Washington NFL Rumors & News

We’re coming up on Week 4 of the NFL season and that means that waiver claim priority will be based on the current league standings instead of last year’s. Of course, waiver priority is based on the inverted NFL standings, which have built in tiebreakers to sort out the many logjams that naturally occur.

Throughout the offseason and the first three weeks of the regular season, the Browns enjoyed top priority thanks to their 1-15 finish last year. Now, we have a brand new pecking order. Here is a full rundown of the current waiver claim priority, which will change from week to week (Twitterlinksvia Field Yates of ESPN.com):

Former Steelers safety Shamarko Thomas will work out for the Redskins on Monday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Thomas has been out of work since being cut by the Jets in early September.

Playing mostly at strong safety, Thomas spent the first four years of his career with Pittsburgh. The former fourth-round pick started in two of 14 appearances as a rookie, but he came off the bench in the rest of his games (34) with the team from 2014-16.

Last year, Thomas spent the bulk of the season on special teams duty and played in only five defensive snaps. As a special teamer, he was on the field for 126 snaps. But, given the Su’a Cravens situation and the rash of injuries the Redskins have had in the secondary, Thomas could be in line for a larger role with the Redskins if he is signed.

In spite of this year’s hiccups, the Redskins’ D stepped up in a big way on Sunday, containing the Raiders’ offense en route to a 27-10 win. The Redskins held the Raiders to just 128 yards of total offense, marking the franchise’s best showing in the last 25 years.

Despite his would-be sophomore season ending before it started, Cravens now is planning on a return to football for the 2018 season. He doesn’t appear to be certain that’s going to happen, but after informing Washington he planned to retire then backtracking on that decision, Cravens plans to come back in a year.

“I would just say God has a plan for everybody and right now he’s putting me through something he knows I can handle. It will make me stronger,” Cravens said Saturday, via John Keim of ESPN.com. “Hopefully around this time next year I’ll be back on that field.”

The Redskins’ decision to end Cravens’ season despite the key defender’s willingness to return came because the team wasn’t certain he could be trusted to remain with the team. Worries about how other Washington players would react to Cravens’ return also played a role in the team putting a potential return on hold, Keim reports.

Personal issues caused Cravens to consider retirement, Keim notes, adding the former USC standout did not reveal why he initially told the Redskins he planned to retire.

“It’s tough. I grew up loving football and grew up loving to play football,” Cravens said, “so the fact that I’m in the middle of my career and I’m not playing, it’s different. It’s difficult.”

Should Cravens return next season, his rookie contract would toll, meaning the Redskins would still control his rights for three more years.

Cravens disrupted the Redskins’ plans in a major way when he made his surprising decision to retire so close to the start of the season. The team’s decision makers were irked by the move and that feeling apparently extended to the locker room.

Cravens flip-flopped on his decision hours later, but it still wasn’t clear afterwards whether he was ready to resume playing football. He made plans to report to the team on Tuesday, but the Redskins were not convinced that he mentally prepared to get back on the field and never agreed to that plan.

Apparently, Cravens’ actions over the weekend further hurt his standing with the club. On Saturday, Cravens attended the USC-Texas game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to cheer on his former Trojan teammates. When Washington took on the Rams on Sunday at the Coliseum, Cravens did not return to support the Redskins. Both the Redskins’ front office and the Redskins’ locker room took notice.

Cravens, of course, vacillated on a retirement decision earlier this month, and his situation stunned many in the Redskins’ front office and locker room. Ultimately, Washington placed the 2016 second-round pick on the reserve/left squad list, entitling the club to a four-week roster exemption. Cravens was not aware the Redskins planned to shift to the the reserve/left squad designation — which ensures he won’t play in the 2017 season — until the transaction was already made, per Florio.

Given that his contract should toll, Cravens will now be under Washington team control though 2020. However, as La Canfora reports, the Redskins may have no interest in retaining Cravens after this season.

Su’a Cravens will not suit up for the Redskins this season. The versatile defender has been formally placed on the reserve/left squad list.

“Today the Redskins have officially placed Su’a Cravens on the Reserve/Left Squad list,” the team said in a statement. “In accordance with the NFL Constitution and Bylaws, Su’a will not be permitted to return to the club for the remainder of the 2017 NFL season, including the postseason. We sincerely hope that Su’a uses this time away from the club to reflect upon whether or not he’d like to resume his career in the National Football League in 2018.”

Cravens shocked the Redskins in early September when he informed the team that he would be retiring. Hours later, he reversed that decision. The team placed him on the NFI list to give him some time to consider his football future, but he is apparently still in deliberations.

Cravens, a second-round draft pick in 2016, appeared in 11 games and made three starts as a rookie while lining up at both defensive back and linebacker. This year, he was slated to shift to safety full-time.

Redskins safety Su’a Cravens is expected to report to the team Tuesday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Cravens, of course, informed the club several weeks ago that he intended to retire only to reverse his decision almost immediately. Cravens has been in contact with head coach Jay Gruden, and the two have discussed football and life issues. As Rapoport suggests, the fact that Cravens is reporting does not necessarily mean that he will suit up right away, given that he is battling an injury and, as his recent history suggests, may be at a crossroads in his young life. Nonetheless, it is a positive step for one of the more promising defensive talents in the league.

The Redskins reshuffled their front office in June, but per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the team considered adding another executive during training camp. Washington reportedly brought in James “Shack” Harris, Charles Bailey, Bill Kuharich, and Ron Hill to watch practice and meet with other staffers, but the team ultimately decided to stand pat and does not plan to make any other additions at this time.

The Vikings outbid multiple suitors to sign Kyle Sloter to their practice squad, and the move ended up seeing the former college wide receiver promoted to the active roster in advance of Week 2. In addition to the Broncos, the Vikings presented a better offer than the Redskins or Bills in order to land Sloter, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com reports. A wide receiver at Southern Miss before a transfer to Division I-FCS Northern Colorado put him loosely on the quarterback radar come UDFA signing time, Sloter played extensively for the Broncos during the preseason. John Elway hoped the Broncos could pass him through waivers to Denver’s practice squad, but the GM preferred more experience to start the season. This led to the Broncos’ decision to reunite with Brock Osweiler for the time being.

The Cardinals were not willing to enter the same ballpark as the Jaguars or Broncos did in the Calais Campbell sweepstakes in March.

An Uninterrupted video (YouTube link) reveals Campbell wanted his agent, Tom Condon, to take the Jaguars’ $15MM-per-year offer back to the Cardinals to see if they’d match. Condon was fairly certain the Cardinals wouldn’t, and although he did call GM Steve Keim back, both Keim and Cards football administration director Mike Disner told the agent they didn’t want to hear Jacksonville’s updated offer because they did not believe they could match whatever it was.

This video lists the Cardinals’ top proposal at $9MM AAV over three years, and the Cards are categorized as being out of the running early in the frenetic process.

Campbell said $15MM per year would have been enough for the Cardinals to keep him off the UFA market. The 31-year-old defensive end felt his age would keep him off the Fletcher Cox/Muhammad Wilkerson/J.J. Watt tier — each makes north of $16MM annually — but viewed $15MM annually as a reasonable goal.

The Jaguars ended up meeting that standard on the fourth offer. Jacksonville initially offered $11MM per year, which Washington matched, according to the video. Both teams then submitted $12MM-AAV proposals. The Jags improved their proposal to $14.75MM per year, inducing a celebration from Campbell and his inner circle. The video does not show an additional Redskins proposal.

But the Broncos’ offer — one confirmed to be for $13MM annually with $26MM guaranteed in the first two years of the deal (Jacksonville’s pact came with $30MM guaranteed in Years 1-2) — “changed the game” for the Denver native. While some members of his camp thought the Broncos were the better legacy play, Campbell also said the Jaguars were building something. Campbell mentioned earlier in the video the Redskins, on the surface, presented a better chance to win the Super Bowl than the Jaguars.

The Jaguars elevated their proposal to the $15MM-per-year target Campbell sought, though, and he decided to choose the Jaguars over the Broncos. Denver’s three-year offer included a third-year option for $10MM, Campbell said in this piece.

The video also shows Campbell calling former Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets stalwart Chauncey Billups for advice. Condon mentioned the state income tax disparity between Florida and Colorado as a selling point for the Jaguars. Condon chuckled over the phone when Campbell asked him to see if the Cardinals would match the Jaguars’ $15MM-per-year offer, but Campbell insisted his agent make the call anyway.

Campbell played nine seasons with the Cards. His age-31 season’s off to a banner start. He leads the NFL with four sacks after leading the charge in the Jaguars’ 10-sack performance against the Texans.